The combination of AI and the healthcare industry will become a basis for innovation in the future, said Huang Dongsheng, president at the hospital. New technologies including image recognition, Big Data processing and deep learning are highly applicable to the medical sector.

Screening using AI for early cancer diagnosis has already entered preclinical testing. "Early screening of some cancers is significant. In esophageal cancer, for example, a patient with early esophageal endoscopic treatment can be discharged from hospital three to five days after surgery, and postoperative complications are also rare," Huang said. A lack of adequate cognition and effective early screening methods means that the early detection rate for esophageal cancer in China is less than 10 percent, and AI can greatly improve this situation, he added.

AI can also help the country to deal with a shortage of grassroots doctors, by providing them with the same diagnostic capabilities as senior experts and help to reduce regional disparities in medical treatment, said Chang Jia, head of Tencent Internet+Healthcare.

"Artificial intelligence is a kind of open technical ability on a grass-roots level. After the establishment of the joint lab, we will also explore the development of artificial intelligence in areas such as medical insurance payments and customer service, and strive to create an AI+ healthcare service ecosystem," Chang added.

China set out strategic goals for the sector earlier this year stating that AI applications should adhere to a globally-advanced level by 2020 and AI technology should become a new way of improving people's lives.